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Sonic Eraser
|publisher = Sega |producer = Takao Miyoshi |programmer = Manabu Ishihara Tsukasa Aoki |composer = Masaru Setsumaru |series = Sonic the Hedgehog |platforms = Sega Meganet |released = |genre = Falling block puzzle |modes = Single-player, multiplayer }} Sonic Eraser is a falling block puzzle video game developed and published by Sega. It became available for download in Japan in 1991 and in Brazil in 1995 on Sega Meganet. In Sonic Eraser, the player must get shapes of the same variety to fall adjacent to each other to remove them from the grid. Sonic Eraser is one of the few games developed for the Meganet, a Japan-exclusive Sega Mega Drive add-on released in 1990 and later released in Brazil in 1995 that enabled players to download a select library of games via dial-up internet. Gameplay In Sonic Eraser, Sonic the Hedgehog, controlled by the player, must arrange randomly selected falling clusters of shapes of the same variety to align on a grid in order to erase them. The falling shapes used in gameplay include a red tetrahedron, a pink cross, a green gemstone, an orange octahedron, a white gemstone, a yellow tetrahedron and a blue sphere. The general aim for all game-modes is to align two or more of identical shapes in any fashion as long as they lie adjacent to each other inside a 13x7 grid. When this happens, the shapes disappear, give the player a sum of points to add to their score, and subsequently make empty space on the grid for other shapes. The erasure of some shapes may cause other shapes on top of it to gravitate directly downwards in their column. If the fallen shapes also align with other shapes, it causes a chain reaction, giving the player more points. Inevitably, the grid will become filled with shapes, and when the shapes hit the top row of the grid, the game is over. The game also has two boxes labelled 'Next', which show the shape cluster being deployed after the one currently falling. The game has a title screen and an explanation of the rules and controls before the game starts. The game also features multiple modes, those being a competitive two-player mode titled, a single-player mode against a computer, and a two-player cooperative mode. In the versus mode, players can attack each other like in Puyo Puyo. In the two-player co-op mode, there are four game types; 'Round', 'Normal', 'Doubt' and 'Block'. In Round, the player must clear a grid where there is a design of blue spheres and green poles with silver rings already existent. The spheres occur during normal play, but the poles do not, so the player must match the spheres in order to get the poles to drop. The player must do this within the time limit provided to move on to the next level. In Normal, the player must score as many points as possible by matching identical shapes until the grid is filled up. In Doubt, the player attempts to get as high a score as possible, similarly to Normal, however, white shapes will never fall and randomly, the blocks the player places down will turn into these white shapes. Finally, in Block, the player also aims for a high score, but blocks that do not erase other blocks are not affected by gravity, in a fashion similar to Tetris. Additionally, in the single-player mode, in random instances, one Sonic the Hedgehog on one grid's side will run to and punch the other grid's Sonic in the face, which will make the punched Sonic dizzy. While in this state, shape clusters are immovable and not rotatable. The game's layout consists of player 1's grid on the left and player 2's or the computer's grid on the right. In the center, from top to bottom, are screens detailing both player's shape clusters coming up next, the two Sonic the Hedgehogs representing both players, and then mode-specific details, such as a timer, level count or score. Development The game's credits sequence credits "Taka Oh" as its producer, "OP #1" as its programmer, "Rouly" as its designer and "Bosanova Oyz" as its composer. Whilst Taka Oh and Bosanova Ovz are identifiable as Takao Miyoshi and Masaru Setsumaru respectively, OP #1 and Rouly are unidentifiable. The game also credits "Bigisland", "Osamu", "Noisy Pad", "Chiesama" and "Iiyo" as special thanks. It was made available to download in Japan sometime in 1991, about a year after the Meganet's initial release, and in 1995 in Brazil, along with all other Meganet games created at the time. The concept was inspired by Columns. Sonic Eraser was re-released on the B-Club (an online emulation service) in 2004. References Category:1991 video games Category:Falling block puzzle games Category:Sega Meganet games Category:Sega video games Category:Sonic the Hedgehog video games Category:Video game spin-offs